PRESSURE INJURY -- It's the New Pressure Ulcer

Say "good-bye" to pressure ulcers.

Say "hello" to pressure injuries -- in Technicolor!

The infamous, only-wounds-to-stage skin lesions are now called "pressure injuries" an April 13, 2016 National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP or, should I say, NPIAP?) news release says.

Calling Stage 1 pressure injuries and Deep Tissue Injuries "ulcers" was confusing,  because their definitions described intact skin, not open ulcers like the definitions of Stage 2, 3, and 4 pressure ulcers, NPUAP explains.

"Pressure injuries are staged to indicate the extent of tissue damage. The stages were revised based on questions received by NPUAP from clinicians attempting to diagnose and identify the stage of pressure injuries. 

NPUAP Staging Task Force News Release 2016.4.13

Oh, and "suspected" is no longer part of the "deep tissue injury" description.

For a clearer picture of the change, check out the13 new pressure injury staging illustrations "available for use at not cost" for educational purposes at the NPUAP website.  So many more helpful images to compare! And not all of them are Caucasion!

It's about time.

New terminology generally leads to other industry changes, of course.

So far, there's no sign of "pressure injury" replacing "pressure ulcer" in the April 2016 CDC release of ICD-10-CM updates with new codes effective October 1, 2016. But, the NPUAP's Staging Task Force just changed the term from "pressure ulcer" to "pressure injury" during an April 8-9, 2016 meeting in Chicago -- hardly enough time for CDC reaction. Watch CMS' Home Health Quality Initiative updates for related OASIS changes as CMS continues to work toward post-acute-care standardization throughout the nation.

When the OASIS changes come, I'll update my OASIS courses ASAP!